Just a bump to share a few thoughts on Valis IV.
Spooky said the game was "painfully average." My feeling is closer to "painfully frustrating." While there are occasional good moments within levels, I seem to remember many more instances of enemies popping into existence and knocking you into a pit, unless you had memorized their spawn point and planned accordingly.
Ultra long levels combined with damage sponge enemies, with a dash of slow and sometimes-unresponsive attack controls (Amu's bird often decides it wants to home in exclusively on the space above enemies) - oh boy. I have to LOL at anyone who says there is a "strategy" to the game. Yeah, maybe in the broadest sense of "move out of the way of an attack, retard," but Castlevania this is not. Hope you don't die (and thus be stranded on a boss with the weakest weapon and no magic) and mash II and slide out of the way (oh, make sure you have Reina because you'll want those sliding invincibility frames to abuse). My reward for this effort was a credits scene with a musical number that repeats the same four bars over and over again; this is in stark contrast to an otherwise excellent soundtrack.
I think if the game was shorter and had been better tweaked in difficulty and balance, it would be a much stronger title, but I guess that's a complaint you can lob at every entry.
I played every Valis game that matters, perhaps sans trying out the Famicom game or getting into the nitty-gritty of the Genesis ports. You can now use this official, indisputable quality chart to decide which of these games are worth not-buying-and-just-burning (answer: all of them).
//OFFICIAL VALIS POWER RANKINGS//
UPPER QUALITY:
Valis II X68000
Valis I PCE-CD
MIDDLING QUALITY:
Valis III PCE-CD
Valis IV PCE-CD
LOW QUALITY:
Valis II PCE-CD
//OFFICIAL VALIS POWER RANKINGS//
Mama Mia!
Of course strategy is involved. And enemies spawning at inconvenient times/places, which may "knock you down" is so broad it can be leveled at nearly every platformer. Yes, I know you meant: you were saying that Valis III has a lot of "cheap" moments. I think you just need to spend a little more time with Valis III. Have you replayed it?
SNARKY: I submit that you would level this critique ("it's cheap") at Super Mario Brothers, too, if you had only spent a little time playing SMB.
You mention that Valis III is "not Castlvania", yet both games exhibit the same type of platforming design+ enemy placement... But I'll go further, I will argue that Castlevania is MUCH MORE LIKELY to exhibit "cheap" moments (say, a tricky jump + winged creature, or a tricky jump + an enemy with a mid- to long-range attack) than Valis III.
Valis III's aqueduct stage is brilliant. I don't think it is cheap. It is all about strategy and executing some platforming skills (freeze + jump, repeat).
Then there are moments where you use *slide attack* to overcome challenging platforming/enemy placement.
Perhaps you need to explore/experiment with slide attack/magic/different characters.
BORING/UNINSPIRED: Sure, some stages in Valis III are boring/uninspired...but the same is true for Castlevania. Stairs in Castlevania are lame and lead to many cheap moments. I love the Castlevania series, but let's be honest in our discussions.
BOTTOM LINE: There are enough charming/satisfying segments/stages in Valis III to praise it. And it certainly holds its own against the antics in Castlevania.
IF YOU ENJOY CASTLEVANIA, you can enjoy Valis III.
LOVE: Please note that I am a huge Castlevania fan... But I acknowledge that it isn't everyone's cup of tea. I don't think the classic Castlevania series is particularly cheap, but if you are going to level that charge against Valis III, then I certainly have to call you out for ignoring how Castlevania exhibits similar "problems"...
NOTE: I love reading all of your recent posts. You are playing the damn games and talking about them
We need more discussions like this.
